Daily Prompt: How to be a golden oldie

And another cheerful theme from the WordPress gods wherever they may be. I thought I would brighten it up with a virtual bouquet, courtesy of my local supermarket flower department.

Of course I sympathise with people, but with the problems in this world, it would be a full time job. There are so many catastrophies at the moment that sympathy no longer covers it all. I read somewhere today that the End of the World groups are predicting that our tonados and earthquakes are all signs that tomorrow will be your last day, so there is no point in stocking up on provisions as you will no longer be around to enjoy them.

On the other hand I have a very morbid hobby. It must be due to becoming a golden oldie, but I read the daily local newspaper regularly on my iPad. We are subscribers, and so have it delivered in the paper version daily. Some mysterious person drops it in the letter box in the twilight hours. As we are subscribers we also have the free online version. Of course I read the headlines and look at the pictures, but local is local and so not really a super example of journalism. However there is a page somewhere after the middle showing obituaries, those that no longer read the newspaper. I have to make the page bigger by swiping with my fingers because te print is quite small.

I always used to read the newspaper articles, but now skip through. The older I get, the more interesting the little boxes framed in black become. You actually begin to recognise names and notice that the average age of the departed have dates similar to your own. You do not have to know the people no longer amongst us, but they were part of your surroundings. It might be an ex owner of a shop, someone that you casually remember from work, even a local politician: local known figures. I read the names of their surviving relatives. What a morbid person I have become.

Although I must add, my mother-in-law was also a fan of this page in the newspaper. She did not have the newspaper, but the headquarters were on her way to town and they always had the pages of the daily newspaper hanging in the window. Yes, she would pause and read it all whilst standing in the street, especially the obituaries. It must be a sign of progressive age, a pasttime for golden oldies. I should really concentrate more on the sports pages, it would be more healthy, or pehaps not the special offers in the local grocery shop. Even the local undertaker has an advertisement in the newspaper. Ok, I will go now, but it is all daily life.

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15 thoughts on “Daily Prompt: How to be a golden oldie”

Garry has always read the obits, even when he was younger. He still does. He wants to be sure he isn’t in them. Once, a long time ago, he showed in one of them in the Herald. He had to write them and point out that he was definitely not dead. Yet.

It was something that we only had in newpapers like the Times in England and only the rich and famous, at least I never discovered it in our local newspaper. When I got married and we had the local newspaper I was fascinated that there was a page for obits and would read it with interest. Today I read to see who I know – how morbid can you get.

My mom read the obits because the names of the dead Indians (Montana, after all) were so cool. “Tom Bull Standing in a Field died Friday of complications from a stroke. He is survived by his wife, Sheila Standing in a Field, his daughters, Mrs. Alex Fishes with a Harpoon, Mrs. Lamont P. Early Snow, Mrs. Dusty T. Three Bears… You get the idea. 🙂

As for me, I think the apocalypse coming in my lifetime — at this point — would be awesome. I would not have to worry about what to do with the dogs when they’re too old to get around, I will not have to determine if my left hip has really gone south and needs to be replaced (it has, but I’m in the denial stage) or if I should have surgery on my knee. I won’t have to worry that I live into my 90s and suffer dementia. If news of the apocalypse comes, I’m going to get a good bottle of Italian wine and some donuts, take the dogs for a long walk and savor the last moments. 🙂

I would have loved to have seen those Indian obits. The names here are generally hyphernated with the surname and the maiden name of the wife.

Perhaps the apocalypse won’t be too bad after all. It might happen when I am sleeping, so I won’t notice it. I have already began to forget stuff, so has Mr. Swiss. What bothers me is that I will not be able to watch the TV news from CNN when it happens, or even Fox news (I am sure they will have an interesting version). We thought the apocalypse arrived when the builders arrived, but that was a mistake.

I read the obits, too! They charge by the inch for the write-ups, and some people have columns written about what they did during their lifetime. All that money spent on people who are…..no longer amongst the living. Seems like a lot of money to spend. I told my husband to save his money and just have the newspaper print the free announcement and be done with it.

Some of the obits are really artistic. You always get a free mention on the last pages of the newspaper so why bother. We have also decided to slip away quietly, but if we all did that, there would be nothing more to read.

I don’t get newspapers any more, no point as they are all owned by Rupert Murdoch but when I did I used to read the obits or if I was at work workmates would read them and comment who they knew. A funny thing I noticed here in Tasmania is that some people are in the habit of including a shout out to the departed’s favourite football team. Is that common or just a local thing I wonder?

I don’t think
Murdoch is not yet controlling the Solothurn News so I will continue to read it. The swiss are a little more conservative with their shout outs and often request donations to a worthy cause instead of flowers.

Women’s March 2017

Originally a cockney from the East End of London. Arrived in Switzerland 46 years ago and due to meeting Mr. Swiss, I am still here. Mother of two sons, have been adopted by 3 cats. Worked 30 years as an export clerk for a Swiss machine tool company and am now retired. Like to go for walks with my camera and write blogs, flash fiction, poems to make life interesting. Speak fluent German/Swiss German, French, Italian and some Russian. Mother tongue: still cockney english.

Freshly Pressed

51 Shades of Blog

Being honest the title is based on a remark made on one of my blogs by a supporter.
"You always turn a topic inside out and on its head" were words also applied by a visitor to one of my blogs. I think she hit the nail on the head.

Prompts are there to act on, not just tell everyone what you had for lunch or your likes and dislikes. I trust that on my blog you find something spiced with humour. Mr. Swiss, my other half, has been known to say that not everyone always understands my humour (I do not always understand his).

Blogging is for me coupled with having fun. I do what I want to and not what I have to.

Disclaimer: Not reponsible for any spelling or grammatical mistakes. I do my best, but having two langugages revolving in my brain (yes, I have one), sometimes the result is more bi- than unilingual.